“Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it, you?”

– Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men

A guy robbed a house. Then he posted photos of himself wearing the new coat he stole, along with a fistful of cash.

Earlier this month, Washington Post writer and editor Marc Fisher’s home was burglarized. His new coat, still in the box, was missing. As were his son’s iPod, savings bonds, cash and a laptop. His son took the loss well, he says, until he saw his Facebook page.

The burglar had opened his son’s laptop computer and posted a photo of himself to his son’s Facebook page.

Does Facebook have a responsibility to help catch the crook? For the terrestrial police, this is a minor crime — a few low-value items robbed from a house. But what about the internet police?

A wall was violated. And of course, with that laptop, the crook could do a lot more damage. As our lives move online, who are the cops on the corner? Will some sort of community policing evolve?

Recent Confessions

My name is Dave Pell, internet superhero. This blog provides an addicted insider's account of what's happening to us in the era of the realtime, social web. You can read more about the site, grab the rss feed, follow me on twitter, join the Facebook page, or get email updates.